Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I have been taking a few lessons at Rouxbe Online Cooking School. After watching the lesson comprised of several short videos (the one below was one of 8 for the lesson) you have practice assignments to apply what you just learned. This dish was what I came up with for my assignment.

Grilled Chicken with Red Chile Veloute SauceSource: Nibble Me This with an assist from Rouxbe

In case you can't get video, it's basically making a blond roux with the butter and flour. Gradually whisk in the stock in small increments, kind of like a risotto. Use the best stock you can get because it is the star of this sauce. I had made two quarts on Sunday so I used a little over two cups of that. It's not an exact measurement because you go by the texture of the sauce to know when you've added enough.

After it has simmered lightly for 20 minutes, I add in the chiles and parsley. I break one end of the chiles and pour out the seeds so I'm using mostly only red pepper flake.

Grill the chicken over direct heat at 400f for 5 minutes. Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes, or until the breasts hit 160f on an instant read thermometer. Remove and let rest.Add the 1 Tbsp of very cold butter to the veloute sauce and stir until slowly melted and emulsified into the sauce.

Slice the chicken in 1/4" slices, fan it out, and spoon some of the sauce across the chicken. I served ours with Reeni's Roasted Lemon Garlic Ginger Carrots. It all disappeared quickly.

Poultry Perfect Rubfrom the wonderful book Smoke and Spice by Cheryl and Bill Jamison

Chris - Your veloute sauce and the chicken both look impeccable! Now that you've mastered veloute, you can take it in all sorts of directions.

Sorry I haven't been around much. I've been having a hard time keeping up lately. I grilled a sausage ring the other day in the freezing cold and really enjoyed myself. I had to chuckle because I wondered if you and Alexis were doing the same thing. LOL! There is definitely a certain peace about being outdoors, even if you can see your breath.

Your chicken must of been incredibly good with that spiced up rub and the veloute sauce! I've made veloute sauce before but didn't know it - I called it bechamel. Thank you for the shout out and for trying my carrots!

I should never read your blog before dinner ... makes me want to rethink my sad little meal plan. That rub sounds delicious, with the zesty peppery mix and the sauce looks like a perfect finish. Great looking meal!!